Week 6: You’re Family Here
I recently returned from a heritage trip to Norway. I don’t have any living relatives in Norway, but while I was there, I met family.
I first met family when I boarded a charter bus with my mom and two sisters. Everyone on board (except for our tour guide and bus driver) were related through my great-great grandfather, Ole Selstad. Driving through the mountains, sitting in saunas, and sharing Aquivit at night, I got to know family I never knew I had. We laughed about mishaps and made new memories. We shared our mental health struggles, the challenges of divorce, and woes of parenting. We learned about our roots and the tangle of relationships from Nancy, our family genealogist. Then we stood on ancestral lands when we visited the farms where Ole Selstad, Liv Kjinland (his first wife), and Asna Tvetan (my great-great-grandmother) were born.
On the Kjinland farm, Knut Erik greeted the charter bus with his girlfriend, his sister, brother-in-law, nieces, nephew, and mother. None of us are blood relatives with Knut since his father bought the farm when Ole and Liv immigrated to America, and yet he treated us like family. After leading us up a steep hill to the old homestead and giving us a history of the farm, Knut Erik and his family invited us into their home for a “light” lunch. All twenty-four of us filled our plates with cured meats, moose burgers (hunted by Knut), goat cheese (made by his niece), potato salad, rømmegrøt, lefse, and more, then we sat with his family and ate together.
“Taak” (thank you), didn’t feel like it was enough. The Knut family showed us generous hospitality, most often reserved only for family, yet here they shared abundantly with strangers. After the meal, before we left, Knut’s mother gave each of us a big hug, pressed her cheek to ours, and looked at us with a mother’s love. She didn’t speak English, and we didn’t speak Norwegian, but she showed us we are now family.
We often talk about the church as the “family of God.” Family is…well, family. It’s complicated; and yet, God adopts us into a holy heritage through Jesus. Sometimes it’s easier to welcome a stranger than our own family members. On those days when it’s difficult to love a member of your family, remember—they are a beloved child of God, and so are you. We’re all family here.
Read this: Mark 3:31-35 and Hebrews 13:1-2
Try this: Cook or bake a family recipe and share it with a neighbor. As you eat, ask them about their family recipes.
Be Curious: How does your family practice hospitality and welcome? Ask your relatives questions. How was hospitality practiced? What are the most important things? How can you lean into loving and generous hospitality today?
Pray: Pray for families in need of healing from abuse, trauma, and broken trust. Give thanks for the support of adopted and chosen family.